Mosley Alters His Body of Work

How much has Sugar Shane Mosley changed under new trainer Joe Goossen?

For one thing, Mosley is not allowed to eat sugar anymore.

But Goossen hopes he has done much more than merely turn his fighter into Sugarless Shane Mosley for tonight’s super-welterweight rematch against Winky Wright at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.

In taking over as Mosley’s trainer, after the Pomona fighter had gone through his entire career with his father, Jack, in his corner, Goossen studied the tape of Mosley’s first meeting with Wright last March and came to a decision.

“I wanted a new body for Shane,” Goossen said after watching over and over again as Mosley lost a unanimous decision to Wright in the same ring where the two will square off tonight. “I wanted him thinner, less bulk. Same weight, different body.”

Goossen had seen a disturbing trend in Mosley’s recent fights. While Mosley has a high knockout percentage (39-3, 35 knockouts), he achieved his dominance until recently through eye-blurring speed of hands and feet. Jack always described his son as a power puncher, but that power was the end product of speed, which allowed Shane to land a high volume of punches against slower opponents.

But as he moved up from lightweight to welterweight to super-welterweight, Mosley felt the need to bulk up against increasingly bigger and stronger opponents. That added muscle seemed to be the deciding factor in Mosley’s second victory over De La Hoya last year.

But against Wright, Mosley looked as if he were banging his head against a stone wall, the wall that Wright, a master of defense, sets up against his opponents, gloves pressed against his temples, elbows hugging his body.

And, having sacrificed some quickness for muscle, Mosley had no Plan B.

If any trainer could transform Mosley, it would be Goossen. He transformed Michael Nunn, a slick boxer with a light touch, into an effective puncher. He took two kids who came to the door of his North Hollywood gym, Gabriel and Rafael Ruelas, and turned them into world champions.

And, in a dramatic turnaround that sealed his reputation, Goossen trained Joel Casamayor to beat Diego Corrales. Then, when Casamayor left him, Goossen trained Corrales for the rematch earlier this year, and Corrales beat Casamayor.

Can Goossen now change Mosley? Can Mosley give up his toe-to-toe tactics and revert to the skilled speedster and consummate boxer? That’s what tonight’s fight figures to come down to.

Wright (47-3, 25), the World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council champion, is what he is, a left-hander with a stinging jab and a solid defense. He spent years seeking the big-name opponents and big paychecks he felt he deserved. It’s not that the high-profile fighters disrespected him. Just the opposite. They respected Wright so much that they weren’t about to get into the ring with a southpaw who could make them look awkward and get frustrated trying to break through his defense.

Frustrated himself at the lack of opportunity in this country, Wright traveled the world in search of meaningful fights, facing opponents in eight countries on four continents.

When he passed his 30th birthday, Wright began to think of doing something he would never do in the ring: Give up. Find a new line of work.

Then came Mosley.

“I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity,” Wright said.

Now it’s Mosley who has the opportunity for redemption, and Wright expects him to seek it in a different manner.

“In the first fight,” Wright said, “he saw that he wasn’t as strong as he thought he was. He couldn’t hurt me. Now he’s going to try his pop shots. He thinks he can outbox me. But there’s nothing he can do to beat me.”

Wright says that, having finally reached the mountaintop, he’s still enjoying the view.

“I just got here,” he said. “I’m not ready to leave just yet.”

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Tale of the Tape

How champion Winky Wright and Shane Mosley match up in tonight’s 12-round, super-welterweight title fight at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas (TV: HBO, card begins at 6:45 PST):

*--* WRIGHT MOSLEY 32 AGE 33 47-3-0 RECORD 39-3-0 25 KNOCKOUTS 35 154 WEIGHT (LIMIT) 154 5-9 HEIGHT 5-9 72 REACH 74

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